Tech consultant Nima Momeni will stand trial for murder in the stabbing death of Cash App founder Bob Lee, a San Francisco judge ordered Tuesday.
Leeās violentĀ death shocked the tech communityĀ as fellow executives and engineers praised his generosity, curiosity and leadership skills. He was 43 and chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died.
Saam Zangeneh, one of Momeniās four defense lawyers, argued unsuccessfully in court Tuesday that there might be enough evidence for a manslaughter charge, but not murder. Zangeneh said they made the argument just for purposes of the preliminary hearing.
āWe are not agreeing that our client is guilty of any crime,ā he said in an email after the hearing.
Prosecutors have said that MomeniĀ planned the April 4 attackĀ that left a bloody Lee staggering on a deserted downtown San Francisco street seeking help. They say Momeni, 38, drove Lee to a secluded area, stabbed him three times with a knife and then drove off in a hurry after a dispute over the defendantās sister.
Over two days, the prosecution presented technical video and forensic evidence showing that Lee was last seen getting into a car driven by Momeni and a bloodied knife was found near a spot where the two men got out of the car.
A crime lab criminalist with the San Francisco Police Department testified Tuesday that Leeās DNA was found on the blade of the knife but not the handle, and Momeniās DNA was found on the handle.
San Francisco police said they responded to reports of a stabbing in the cityās Rincon Hill neighborhood at 2:35 a.m. Lee was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Lawyers for Momeni have said that their client hadĀ no reason to killĀ Lee and the two men were cordial. They said Momeniās anger was directed at another person and not at Lee.
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